A Guide to the J.J. Jake Pickle
Papers, [ca. 1910s]-2010

The J.J. "Jake" Pickle Papers, [ca. 1910s]-2010, documents his congressional career
and retirement in Austin. James Jarrell Pickle, better known as "Jake," (1913-2005) served as the US House
Representative for the 10th district of Texas from 1963 to 1995.

James Jarrell "Jake," Pickle (1913-2005) represented
the Texas 10th District for 30 years in the House of Representatives from 1963 to
1993. Pickle was born in Roscoe, Texas on October 11, 1913 to Joseph Binford Pickle
and Mary Theresa Duke, and had five siblings. He grew up in Big Spring, Texas, and
was an active Boy Scout, achieving the distinction of Eagle Scout. In 1932 Pickle
moved to Austin to attend The University of Texas (UT). While at UT, he befriended
future Texas Governor, John B. Connally. He was elected Student Body President as a
senior in 1937, and began to consider politics as a career path. After graduation,
he went to work for the National Youth Administration, where he met Lyndon B.
Johnson, who would become his political mentor. Pickle married Ella Nora "Sugar"Critz in 1942. Shortly after their marriage, he
received a commission as an officer in the United States Navy. Pickle served on
gunboats in the Pacific theatre for the next four years and was discharged as a
senior lieutenant.

Upon his return to Austin in 1945, Pickle co-founded a local radio station, KVET,
along with seven other World War II veterans. Sugar and Pickle’s daughter, Peggy,
was born in 1946. In 1949, Pickle left KVET to co-establish the public relations and
advertising firm of Syers-Pickle & Winn. Through his work conducting smear
campaigns at Syers-Pickle & Winn, Pickle became embroiled in the Texas political
scene.

During the 1950s and early 1960s, Pickle participated in or managed the political
campaigns of several state and national officials, including Meade Griffin, Lyndon
Johnson, Price Daniel, Allen Shivers, and John Connally. Throughout the 1950s,
Pickle served on the State Democratic Executive Committee. In 1960, Texas Governor
Price Daniel appointed Pickle to serve on the Texas Employment Commission. That same
year, eight years after he lost his first wife to breast cancer, Pickle married
Beryl Bolton McCarroll, a widow with two teenage sons.

With the support of Lyndon Johnson, Pickle won a special election in December 1963 to
fill the 10th District Congressional seat vacated by Congressman Homer Thornberry.
Pickle represented the Texas 10th District for the next 30 years until his
retirement in 1995. A Democrat, Pickle voted for many of the major legislative and
social reforms put forward by Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. Proving his loyalty to
Johnson, Pickle was one of only five Southern Congressmen to vote for the 1964 Civil
Rights Bill, and recalled it as the vote of which he was most proud. Other
significant legislation that he supported includes the Social Security Reform Bill
of 1983 and the Pension Reform Act of 1994. Pickle worked hard to protect The
University of Texas at Austin by making sure "his
university" received favorable tax legislation. While in Congress, Pickle
served on the Social Security Subcommittee and the powerful Ways and Means
Committee. During his tenure Pickle formed close working relationships with
Presidents (Johnson, Nixon, Carter, and Clinton) and other Congressmen and
politicians, and was a respected veteran legislator.

In January 1995, at age 80, Pickle retired from Congress but continued to exercise
his political spirit. Back in Austin, Pickle served on the Mayor’s Advisory
Committee on Bergstrom and dozens of other projects. Pickle and his daughter Peggy
co-authored an autobiography titled Jake (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 1997).Pickle’s philanthropy can be seen in many Texas and
Austin institutions and buildings that bear his name. In 1991, Pickle was diagnosed
with prostate cancer, and in 2001 he developed lymphoma and began chemotherapy
treatment. In 2002, Pickle and his wife Beryl moved into a Central Austin assisted
living home called Westminster Manor, where he and his daughter Peggy hosted his
90th birthday party in 2003. Pickle died in 2005 at age 92.

Correspondence, case files, constituent mail, legislation, campaign materials,
photographs, newspaper clippings, financial documents, scrapbooks, artifacts, and
awards and honors compose the J.J."Jake" Pickle
Papers,depicting Pickle’s activities from his early years in Big Spring, Texas,
through his service as a Congressman and his eventual retirement and death. The bulk
of the collection dates between 1963 and 1995, documenting Pickle’s more than three
decades in Congress. The papers are primarily organized chronologically by
congressional session. Each congressional session is subdivided by topic and
arranged alphabetically. Of particular interest are materials relating to Pickle’s
tenure on the House Ways and Means Committee and chairmanship of the sub-committee
on Oversight.

A 2011 addition to the papers consists of materials used by Congressman Pickle and
his daughter Peggy in the course of writing Pickle’s biography. Peggy Pickle
attached written descriptions to a number of materials and also included items
collected after Pickle’s death. Consisting of seven and a half linear feet, this
addition is arranged into four distinct series: Personal, Professional, Photographs,
and Scrapbooks. The Personal series illuminates Pickle’s familial relationships,
including those with his first and second wives and daughter Peggy. The Professional
series encompasses Pickle’s career in both the private and public sectors, primarily
his tenure in Congress and campaigns. Notable correspondents include John Connally,
Hubert Humphrey, Bill Clinton, and Pickle’s mentor Lyndon B. Johnson, including a
long letter celebrating the success of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Photography
and Scrapbooks series pertain to Pickle’s professional and personal life,
particularly Pickle’s relationship with the family of Lyndon B. Johnson through
photos and letters.

Books, pamphlets, and memorabilia related to military history and WWII museums and events attended by J.J. Pickle during his trip to England and France as a part of the U.S. Congressional Delegation to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landing at Normandy,
1994

JJP’s personal notes on his trip observing the 50th Anniversary of D-Day,
May 31-June 6, 1994